Can't arachidonic acid be freed via phospholipase action on membrane phospholipids, thus producing arachidonic acid in the body naturally? Why then is arachidonic acid considered an essential fatty acid?

Hi! I’m a current third-year at a small liberal arts school, and for my first two and a half years I was a biochemistry major. As of yesterday, I’ve started the process of switching to biology. I feel like it’s the best decision for me, but I can’t help but feel like a complete failure. I got through Gen chem 1&2 and Ochem 1&2 with all As, and I started off this year with Achem. Because my school is so small, there was one class of Achem, and it’s only taught by one professor. She didn’t respect my medical accommodations, to the point where I was advised to drop the class and take it at one of our consortium schools at a later semester by the access department, because they just couldn’t get through to her and she continued to retaliate against me. When I was talking to my advisor about the biochemistry degree following these issues, I mentioned something along the lines of “I wish I could learn things that align more with my future and not have it crammed into two classes I’ll take as a senior” (biochem and advanced biochem). She asked me what I meant and I elaborated on my interests in cell signaling pathways, cell communication, cancer, and proteomics. My advisor suggested I look into the biology program, as they offer more targeted courses to my interests. I’ve always thought about it, but kept it in a vault in my mind that I didn’t allow myself to open. I LOVE biochemistry, and I find inorganic chem to be fascinating, but only the parts that are applicable to biological processes. The rest, I feel like I have to choke down. My advisor pointed out that I shouldn’t force myself into doing a degree just to have it say “chemistry” on a piece of paper, when I’d be doing the kind of biochemistry I’m interested in within the biology department. It’s just sad because I always used to say I wanted to be a chemist when I was little, before I even knew what it was. I just feel like I failed my younger self, and when I come on here and see people saying that having “biochemistry” on my diploma would make me more employable, I feel a bit hopeless. I feel like a quitter, it just sucks. I know I’m being hard on myself. I get to take classes like advanced genetics, molecular biology, A seminar on CRISPR, techniques in proteomics, and biology of longevity and aging. I can also still fit in the only two biochemistry courses my school offers— I’d just not be taking Achem, advanced Achem, and Pchem 1&2. I’ll also be able to graduate significantly earlier, cutting an extreme amount of costs (which is what was my tipping point in deciding to switch over). Can I still get a PhD in biochemistry if I switch to biology? I know it’s not forbidden or anything, but will it be immensely more difficult? Does my CV matter more than my degree itself when it comes to my experience in biochemistry? I’ve done research in genomics and proteomics/structural biology, and I currently have quite a few first author publications pending. More than anything I want to research structural biology and cell signaling, and the role both play in chronic disease development. Should I go through with switching? I feel like I should but idk, this is hard. Sorry for the long post.

I'm starting my master's on Biochemistry with Biotechnology as the minor this January. Does anyone have recommendations for books, sites, apps, or anything really that I could use?

Thanks in advance x

Trying to decide what classes to take?

Want to know what the job outlook is with a biochemistry degree?

Trying to figure out where to go for graduate school, or where to get started?

Ask those questions here.

I am self-studying pharmacology. for example, there's a large family of 'coxib' i.e. COX1/2 inhibitors, but some drugs like naproxen target the entire body while others like etoricoxib only target the bones. (Please correct me if I am wrong.)

What are the pharmacological properties that make the mechanism of action of these drugs different?

I'm starting my undergrad in biochem soon and wanted to know if there is a chance to get a decently paid job after graduating. Everyone I've asked has told me that biochemistry is a useless degree and I'll get paid minimum wage unless I've got a PhD. Is this true? I took up biochem because it's so broad and I love biological molecules however I'm starting to have second thoughts about the course now. I really do love the subject but I do need to consider the financial benefits of it as well. How does the salary look like and what type of jobs should I expect after an undergraduate degree in biochemistry?

For a presentation in inorganic chemistry I have to describe transition metals in the body. I was assigned cobalt and I am struggling to describe why cobalamins act the way they do.

Need help to convert a genomic DNA sequence to cDNA to mRNA to protein. Need to know the start and stop codons. What tool can be used for this?

I am new to biochemistry and this this the question i am struggling with:

Imagine an experiment where purified ribonucleotide reductase is mixed with its substrates, and the production of different nucleotides is measured. ATP is added to the reaction, and the production of two nucleotides increases. Which TWO nucleotides are these likely to be?

I think the ans would be dCDP (as ATP leads to this) and dGDP ( to maintain the balance of purine and pyrimidine) , but i am still not sure that my answer is correct .

guys I don’t know what to do I’m asked to critically analyse this article by Ridley and Hall, it’s called the small GTP binding protein rho regulates the assembly of focal adhesions and actin stress divers in response to growth factors, is anyone super smart and can tell me how u would critically analyse it? Tysm

Let's consider the case of bee stings. Assuming that a significant allergic outbreak isn't set off by a bee sting to a random person, how probable it is that the bee sting itself, over a period of time, contributes to the person developing resistance to it. If so, what is the mechanism here in play and what factors decide whether someone absorbs this foreign substance in a conducive or problematic way.

If this is a possibility, then how would an anti-bee vaccine be different from this gradual process in a chemical sense? I'm interested to dive deep into the specifics of chemical reactions that occur in each of these cases and if there has been a comparison of the sort stated above. Specifically with respect to bee stings would be ideal but a general overview of how the body's cells react to a less potent poison being absorbed over time would also be helpful. I'm comfortable with UG level chemistry but no knowledge with regards to the biology of it all - just mentioning for clarity.

Any insights or research papers addressing this, those who have encountered, please do share.

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Writing a paper?

Re-running an experiment for the 18th time hoping you finally get results?

Analyzing some really cool data?

Start off your week by sharing your plans with the rest of us. å

It's the end of the year and I wish to know about some nice experimental work you came across. Looking forward to see your answers.

Greetings.

Do you know recent article reviews about RAS 1 and 2 gene and protein structure and function on Saccharomyces cerevisiae?

I am doing my master thesis and I need to describe RAS on yeast but I only found very old articles from 80s and 90s or RAS but from human. Can you help me where I can find that type of articles.

Thanks

Hey!

I am comparing ERK levels without the presesnse of EGF (control) against ERK levels in presence of EGF. My data shows a significant increase in Erk levels as EGF is added and I want to prove that this increase in Erk is a result of the addition of EGF.

My issue is when finding it out in excel, Im not sure what to put for tails or type. Would this be a 2-tailed test? Not sure what to enter for type either.

Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

Have you read a cool paper recently that you want to discuss?

Do you have a paper that's been in your in your "to read" pile that you think other people might be interested in?

Have you recently published something you want to brag on?

Share them here and get the discussion started!

I've been really struggling with figuring out configurations on all of the twenty most prominent human proteinogenic amino acids, such as the relative configuration, L and D, and the absolute configuration, R and S. How do these two things differ and relate? For ex., it seems that enantiomers applies to both D/L and r/S meaning that all chiral centers in a compound/molecule must be different in enantiomeric compounds, and that enantiomers rotate plane polarized light oppositely. But I read elsewhere that D/L relative configuration does not predict the optical rotation of light.

It is imperative for me to understand all of these amino acids for my career. Any help is much appreciated!!

https://preview.redd.it/zkw9jta5xd2c1.png?width=307&format=png&auto=webp&s=3cb272ace6752f28fdbdb009b3d1e235191e9d2c

https://preview.redd.it/d2i5pgscxd2c1.png?width=300&format=png&auto=webp&s=2ecd09085415016609804605b7a012d76fcc0ed0

Furthermore why do reaction centers Have 2 chlorophyl A molecules if when one molecule is reduced it goes from Mg2+ --> Mg?

Hello nerds, looking for book recommendations on the history of biochemistry/medical genetics. Particularly interested in early seminal experiments. Thanks!

Enzymes are asymmetric. So for eg., why can’t a hexokinase rotate around and phosphorylate a L-Glucose ? Stereo isomers have always confused me; I’ve always wondered about this.

Hi all,

I'm running some ITC experiments on some aptamers against a target protein.

I'm having to train myself on running the instrument by YouTube videos/papers/trial and error as noone in the department knows how to use it (I'm a PhD student)

I've got one control (EDTA CaCl2 titration) running fine.

However, in the case of my second positive control, titration of 10 uM BSA with 100 uM of a BSA aptamer things look a bit weird

The peaks are very broad compared to everything I see in literature (thrombin/VEGF aptamer binding etc)

I'm at the max rpm for the instrument, I'm unsure what else could be causing this issue

If you could offer any help or point me in the direction of some resources to better understand this technique I'd be really grateful!

Let me know if you need more information

Cheers

I'll try to keep it short, apologies if it's too long of a read or it's in the incorrect sub for this question.

I have a B.S. in computer science and have been coding in various programming languages for over 13 years. Since I was a teen I have loved STEM topics and wanted to do that when I graduated. Now that I'm in my late 30s I feel dissatisfied with the work I do. Don't get me wrong, I love my profession (and the people I work with) but I feel like my skills are being wasted on dumb shit for startups or businesses that just want to follow the latest tech trend and cash out. As a student, I would say I was a B+ student in Biology and Physics, but it was Chemistry that always gave me a problem. I resented every Chemistry class I took because it was the only science class I constantly barely passed even though I tried my hardest.

Fast forward to the COVID-19 pandemic and after reading the book Genome by Matt Ridley, I started to have that same feeling/desire I had when I first started to self teach myself how to code. However, as you already know, you can't self teach yourself these topics and then get a job.

I have already started the admission process to go back to my University for a Biochemistry major with a concentration in Bioinformatics. What I would like to ask from this sub is, what current books or online resources would you recommend for someone who is negatively biased towards Chemistry? There are tons of resources online but I rather ask here first instead of just going by web searches and hopefully clicking on the right link.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!